Like a Book
by Imbri of the Moon
Summary: Zero's known X so long, he thinks he can write a book on him! ...Or at least get out some facts before he's killed for being a possessive, over protective, and violent idiot. But if X didn't love him for it by the end anyway, I couldn't say it was slash!
1. Chapter 1

Warnings: SLASH! SLASH! SHONEN-AI! SLASH SLASH SHONEN-AI!

…well now that I've scarred off the non-slash happy fans…

A/N: Oh. GOD. Another fic. But at least this is a sign that the will to write is returning! I am actually writing more now!

Overlay: Zero's known X so long that he's confident that he could write a book on him, or at least get a few dozen facts out while he's talking himself out of the glare of death.

I OWN NOTHING! Certainly none of the characters portrayed here, not even the plot, because I'm sure it's been done somewhere, sometime…

…And would you believe this thing started because of one really hard to remember word?

Chapter 1: Words of Wisdom (often ignored)

In an ideal world life would go something like this:

X: I hate you Zero!

Zero: O.o Whaaa?

X: You're so insensitive!

Zero: Yeah well, you're a pansy

X/cries/

Zero: …I'm sorry?

X/sniffle/ really?

Zero: Yep.

X: Yay/hugs and maybe a few other things that the author isunable able to describe in detail, perhaps because Imbri likes her account here… use your imagination people./

…well, a nice thought, but…

"Zero," The way people could say something so brightly, with such a serene, cheerful face but still somehow make it sound like a death threat boggled the mind. Because as bright and calm as it sounded, complete with the wide smile and the closed, '' shaped eyes, it was just a sign of the apocalypse. It was the calm before the storm, the dead silence before the bomb went off, the moment of peace before all hell broke loose… and all that other dramatic crap that Zero didn't pay much attention to.

"Go. To. Hell!" It was a hiss, complimenting the scowl that replaced the smile in a change of personality that would have made most heads spin.

Zero just blinked and wondered how his friend went from perky if not a little whiny to moody if not a lot bitchy in two seconds flat.

…He would have almost preferred the whine.

And contrary to belief, he had enough self-preservation instinct to not say that out loud. But not enough to keep his mouth entirely shut, because that is just not Zero.

"You're taking this too personally!" Zero cried back, throwing his hands up in the air, a plea to the powers that be to help him.

And god looked down upon Zero and said, 'It will be a cold day in hell!'

"How else am I supposed to take it?" The calm tone was back, but that was only a sign that he was just more screwed than before. And a reasonable person, with reasonable logic behind their ideals might ask, why?

Because after all the years of seeing X through ups and downs, he could identify the signs. In fact, Zero was confident that he could write a book about X.

Yakasa X Light, by Zero Omega.

It had a nice ring to it. If he included some tidbits about his personal life, he could probably make a mint. "Like an adult!" Zero cried, resisting the urge to shake the blue reploid until he heard something rattle around in that thick skull.

_1) With X's usually (sans post/pre battle) positive mood, it's easy to notice something amiss when he starts responding with smart remarks._

"Oh, and you'd know /so/ much about that, wouldn't you?"

"Look, I didn't mean to call you prudish, stuck-up, slow, or moody! It just kind of happened!" Okay, so maybe it hadn't just kind of happened. He'd kind of just assaulted (read: maimed) a member of X's unit, and he was having a field day over it. And so they had kind of just started arguing, which in the end, degraded to name-calling as per usual. And then things just kind of went downhill from there, until it had just kind of boiled over until they were where they were now: Standing in the hallways with random Hunters taking one look at the feuding pair and doing a 180 back the way they came.

Really, everyday events (normal hazards of the job) and it shouldn't have been a big surprise to the units anymore. In fact, it was probably more the fact that X looked just about ready to do something unpacifistic, like throw Zero through that nearby glass window, that was making them edgy.

"Things like that don't 'just happen'. You have to have been thinking them for a while!"

Something about the way X snapped that… "…I should have added obstreperous or stentorophonic(1) in there…"

_2) Cursing; X, goody-goody little Boy Scout that he is frowns upon cursing unless he feels there's a good reason for it. Therefore, the appearance of this in his sentences is a telltale sign that his patience is currently fraying._

"What the hell did you just say!"

"…That you have an abnormally loud voice?"

_3) When the sentences disappear altogether, leaving just the cursing, it's time to rethink your approach._

"…" He opened his mouth to say something, rethought it and opted for glaring. "Fuck. You."

"There you go, taking things too personally again!"

_4) Most people, including the author, will ignore the wisdom of #3, leading to 4: The absence of words all together and the angry retreat._

"Oy X!" He called, speeding up his strides to catch up.

"…"

"X."

"…"

"X?"

"…"

"You can't ignore me forever!" he frowned, grabbing his arm and whirling him around.

5) _As often as X has to fight due to his status as a Hunter, he likes to avoid violence whenever possible. At the same time, due to the fact that he's adorable and, simply put, jump-able, he can and will resort to hostile diplomacy when provoked._

Zero didn't actually feel the need to take heed of that last one, but figured he had pushed X far enough and dropped the arm. Diplomacy was something that X and Zero disagreed on; with X, it was the first thing to try. With Zero, it was the last.

It never hit him until it was too late that maybe that wasn't a good system.

"X," As many times as he'd repeated that word in the past three minutes, he should have made an R-rated joke by now. In fact, the corners of his mouth started to twitch, but the glare he caught out of the corner of his eye was warning enough.

He didn't comment.

6) _If he thinks that you regret your actions, most, and sometimes all, of his anger will usually dissipate._

"Hear me out?" He asked as mournfully as possible, complete with the drooping head, the crossed eyebrows of distress and –the killer- the worrying of the lower lip. The puppy dog eyes had almost never failed to get him out of trouble, though Zero would never be the first to admit that it was at least partly because he was being serious and actually wanted to have a civil discussion and X, naïve little thing that he was, preached friendship and harmony too often to be an open hypocrite when someone wanted to actually promote it /with/ him.

He was met with a frown, but that was a vast improvement over the glare.

"WHY did you feel the need to lop off Ryan's arm?" He didn't even dance around it or wait for Zero to bring it up. X might have forgiven Zero murder, but that was usually because it was Mavericks that he was decapitating, not members of his unit!

_'He touched you!'_

That probably wouldn't have made much sense to X. It probably would have made a lot of sense to the nice people running the security camera, and he had enough people to shut up as it was, thank you.

Which is why he didn't say that. "He groped you!"

7) _If it's possible for something that isn't innocent to be seen as innocent, that's how X'll usually see it._

"Zero, it was just a hug!" He cried, exasperated. The cry of someone who had had this kind of argument before. Not that it was entirely bad that Zero was protective; it was just a little over the top when he started mauling people for little things!

"People don't just randomly hug their superior officers!"

"They might when said officer has been staying late to help them pass training!" X snapped, swinging his arms around in what reminded Zero of a ticked off chicken. "He's been trying level nine for two months Zero, he was just happy he finally got through it!"

8) _If you don't come out with valid reasons, X will dismiss the argument entirely._

"He used it as an excuse!"

9) _At the same time, if he knows that you're hiding something with lame arguments, he'll start tearing into you._

Because that was Zero grasping at straws just now. And it hit him a moment too late that that was a show of weakness in his argument. And X, self-proclaimed pacifist, would latch onto it like a bloodthirsty shark and start maiming his defense in about two seconds.

Sure enough, X raised an eyebrow, not that Zero could see it under the helmet. "…Why did you attack my lieutenant?" He repeated slowly, frowning slightly at the guilty look that flittered across Zero's face. Of course it was replaced with a smile, albeit a weak one, but the momentary lapse was enough here.

He was screwed. On several levels. None of them he liked, which is what really hurt here.

"I just told you why."

"But you're not telling me everything."

"There's nothing to tell!"

11) _When words get him nowhere…_

"Tell me." It was 'the voice.' Not to be confused with 'THE voice' which was accompanied by the big, bright green eyes and mournful look that said, 'I trust you completely so if you lie or say no I'll die of a broken heart.' No, it was 'the voice' the one accompanied by the tight frown, the narrowed eyes and the overall look of, 'Hell no I don't trust you so tell me the truth or your ass is in trouble!'

"The truth? You can't handle the truth!"

The cheesy line didn't even get the corner of X's mouth to twitch up; in fact, it dropped further down, if that was even possible. Ignoring the obvious and pathetic attempt to change the subject, all X felt was a headache coming on. "Zero Omega…"

…Well, of course he could handle it, but let Zero postpone the inevitable a little longer please. Just long enough to weigh the options and the facts that it would either make matters worse and cause the clichéd uncomfortable silence, -Both of which were bad- or that it might prompt X to transfer the little bastard out of his unit.

"It didn't help his case any that he went around telling his friends that you have a nice figure."

'_Well, substitute 'figure' for 'ass', amongst other things…_'

12) _Oddly enough, X doesn't seem to know he's attractive in any sense of the word, so any comments there of tend to throw him for a loop._

Maybe the entire world stopped breathing when those words left Zero's mouth, though it was probably just him blocking everything out. He knew that all sound in the hallway seemed to die as X came to a complete and total stop. His eyes widened a bit before he blinked repeatedly, a single syllable eventually making it around his tongue.

"Oh."

"'Oh'?" Zero recited, trying to keep the incredulous tone out of his voice. "oh? That's it? You're not upset?"

"…I'm kind of shocked and the jury is still out on disturbed, but why would I be upset?"

"Because!"

_See number 9 again._

"Because why Zero? You don't seem to get upset when half the base is drooling at your heels, poking at your armor and sitting on your lap." It was accompanied by a teasing smile, trying to take any sting out of the words and show that it was a tease, a prod, and proof that he wasn't really upset.

And for some reason, Zero never did know how to stop when he was ahead.

"That's different!"

"…How?"

"Because that's me, damnit, and I don't want other people touching you!"

A cricket chirped somewhere off to the distance.

1) Stentorophonic. Holy COW that's a weird word. The first time I heard it I was in class, and my teacher was on 'spelling funky words week' –you don't want to know the other words. X.x- and here was one of them. And then we continued to learn about how it was derived from some Greek guy of the same name who lost a shouting contest with Hermes and died. Fuuuuuuun…

Obstreperous: I was in debate here, because it would have been, "…That you're like one of those angry little yippy dogs?" instead of the, "…That you have an abnormally loud voice?" And yeah. I decided to stick with what is there now.

And crap. This is going to need another chapter, isn't it? O.o  
...Kidding! I'm working on it, but time is something I don't have much of right now, since I'm preparing for a trip. Anywho! Review please! Even to tell me I'm a deranged fangirl with no sense of humour?


	2. Chapter 2

First off; I am sorry this took so long… I have wanted to work on it! I was away for 4 weeks on my trip. And random family members who will not be assigned went to the hospital, one right after the other. So yeah, things have been quite depressing- humor wouldn't come to me at all. In fact, I have doubts about my ability to write right now… anywho. Regardless of this, I shall be writing ch. 3, which will hopefully be better than this one, as it was written in my post-angst phase. /shrugs/

In other words, beware my crappy writing?

Xx

Flaming Freak of Boredom asked if the Hunters have names, as I said Yakasa X Light and Zero Omega. The thing is, I'm not entirely sure, but let me tap into the random knowledge of an obsessed fangirl. For one thing, I'm pretty sure that the Omega for Zero started on a megaman board somewhere, but its spread all over the place. That's one rumor. Other people swear that it's his last name. Sooooo… bear with me here. ; Same problem for X, I know that there are some people who swear that he's only known as X, but you'll get people like me who say, 'whaaat! His name is Yakasa, damnit!' And I have no way of proving or disproving either. So in my world, and in my writing, they are Zero Omega and Yakasa X Light.

I would tack on the last name of Zero's creator there and have Omega as a middle name, but um… I don't know. Spoilers, I guess, though I think everyone agrees with who it is. /shrugs/

Chapter overlay: Eh. Zero thinks, reflects, goes to a library, bites X and gets kicked out of said library. All in a normal day, right?

Anywho… again, I don't own the characters or any of the books mentioned herein, and I'm betting the plot has been used before by at least someone, so it can't be original. P

Chapter 2: Words of endearment (or not)

_13) The day X realizes any kind of romantic feelings being sent his way is the day that his commanding officer dyes his armor pink._

That wasn't much of an exaggeration. Something like that happening really was akin to Signas swapping color with Alia, or Sigma taking Christmas presents to an orphanage, or maybe even for Vile to decide that he wanted to throw down his guns and become a model.

Zero wasn't sure if it was actual obliviousness, feigned obliviousness, or if it was just some psychological thing that X used to protect himself from having to deal with crushes and turning people down. Really, he wasn't- and somewhere in the deepest, darkest recesses of his mind, he somehow found that oddly cute.

First sign of the apocalypse.

It was like an experiment. How far can A push B with B still thinking that everything is completely innocent.

His answer was, a hell of a lot. In fact, he wasn't sure, but he'd probably done everything short of flat out kissing him.

…Hmm, temptation.

Frowning, his chin resting in his hands and catching X glancing at him out of the corner of his eye- again-, Zero wondered if anyone would care if he dented the table with his head, because he was about to let it slide out from his hands and land there.

_14) Yakasa is what one might call a non-confrontational person at times._

Zero really, really had never cared for that quality. It was what drove him crazy when they were fighting, the way X and those like him would huff and avoid people for days when they were angry, preaching that 'a cool off period would be best for both of us,' which really meant, 'I am going to stew over this and hold a grudge until the day you die!'

It was why X was sitting at a nearby table with one of his rookies, trying to make it look like he was listening to what he was saying even though he kept glancing at him out of the corner of his eye. And he was sure that when his back was turned, it was full-out staring, as if the answer to all of his questions lied somewhere in Zero's slightly tangled mane, or had been graffitied onto his armor by some higher being.

So X stared and frowned, his forehead wrinkling in that overall pose that screamed, I-am-no-closer-to-an-answer-than-I-was-at-two-am. It didn't mean he was angry, or hurt, or even upset. Zero knew by now that X was just one of those people that made everything harder than it had to be, and chewed on whatever was bothering him to no ends until he came to what he termed a 'rational' conclusion or decision.

When Zero thought that hard on anything, he either blew it up or slept with it. Because really, what else /can/ you do?

_15) X has never been able to appreciate the author's sense of humor._

And that was a sad, sad thing that caused a good chunk of their arguments. Zero could have wondered on the cruelty of fate in making him spend most of his time (freely, mind you) with such an incompatible person, but still.

The fact that he was an insensitive bastard had nothing to do with this at all.

The fact that he was an insensitive bastard who hadn't thought about how X would react in the long run if he attacked someone that he took responsibility for hadn't crossed his mind at the time did though.

And yes, he was completely aware that the rest of X's unit was glaring daggers at his back in retaliation for X's unhappy mood, and that the only thing that kept them from lynching him was that it would make him even /more/ unhappy.

_16) X would like to believe that his subordinates just look up to him. The reality is, he has minions that adore him and would assassinate Signas himself if he asked them to._

…Not that Zero's unit wouldn't do that. They just wouldn't do it with as much conviction or as perk-ily, and he was sure there'd be at least a couple of turn-coats that would try to rat him out, meaning he'd have to kill them off, but still.

The fact that X would be unhappy if he made another attempt on the life of one of /his/ minions any time soon without some damned compelling evidence that it was deserved was practically jabbing him in the back with a cheap ceramic cow from Switzerland.

Zero was not going to go off and destroy what little hope X had for him as a rational person. In fact, the only thing he could do to /prove/ that rationality would be to go find Ryan.

And… apologize. Or something similar. Which would probably mean threatening his life and telling him not to do it again- if he even knew what 'it' was.

…Even though he should /really/ just slice off his other arm and beat him with it on the way to the med-lab, maybe convince Life Saver to just let him rot outside or send him to the wrong ward, or that he'd get much better treatment at a base in the Netherlands, where he could be transferred to one of the commanders there for his own good since the base at Japan seemed to be too demanding of his person-

He wasn't going to make it. He needed to get out, he needed to get air somewhere he could think and cool off. Instead, he turned and smiled overly cheerfully at X, who blinked at the action but had the good grace to act innocent.

Meaning he was guilty. "Wanna go somewhere else?"

"Er- where?"

"Anywhere. Town, the garden, hell even the library!"

"..The library?" If Zero had noticed, it wasn't a suggestion but more of a confused parroting. But Zero didn't notice, so he jumped at the comment without thinking.

"To the bikes!"

-------------

_17) He has not realized that the author is not a quiet person, for some reason._

Then again, this was his own fault for jumping at the first thing X had said.

The library. Where you could be chucked out on your ass for /breathing/ loudly. Where the only sound you ever heard was the light whir of the air conditioner and maybe the librarian coughing because she was exempt from the absolutely-no-noise-whatsoever-rule because she worked there. Where he couldn't even crack a joke if an uncomfortable silence replaced the monotonous one.

Not that that seemed like a problem, the way X hadn't said two words to him since they'd gotten there, navigated the building as if it was a second home and was silently as death tearing down the rows in search of something he'd just looked up on the library computer. The floors had creaked from old age when Zero had gone down them, and he'd caught his sleeve on books overhanging the shelves more than once. Did this deter X? No, he had his face in one book as it was, and he bobbed around the problems and walked as light as a cat that was underfed as hell without looking up.

God, Snipers were creepy the way they could move like that. In fact, if Zero looked away for a moment he lost where he was entirely, which was usually down another row thanks to that evil, evil stealth movement, like he was doing now, trailing his fingers down book spines until he let out an almost silent 'aha!' of victory.

Zero hadn't made it two steps before X had turned back to look at him over his shoulder, holding the book up like it was some kind of prize.

An extremely old, worn prize that was missing half its spine.

_18) Give X a book- he'll love you forever, or until you do something idiotic again. Repeat as often as needed._

He didn't know when it started. There was just something about X that had screamed 'bookworm' when he'd first met him. Maybe it was his 'I am so much more holier than thou' attitude, or what he thought was his 'I am so much holier than thou' attitude, as it was a rare occurrence that X actually acted the part, but still. One day they had fought- he brought him a book, which X had apparently read after he had thrown it at his head. Christmas- book. Hell, even for Easter he chucked a copy of Peter Rabbit in his basket.

It never occurred to Zero that X was just too nice to /not/ read them. And thus spiraled his further descent into the world of the bookworm, where he voluntarily went to libraries and could be seen in the rec room with a worn tomb from time to time. So in a way, Zero was responsible for his own boredom, a fact that made him force a smile as he gently took the fraying book in fear of it turning to dust in his hands and then have to pay for a less-trashed copy to replace it off some online site.

""Tea with the black dragon"." Zero glimpsed the cover and made out a dragon sitting behind a small table, a tea set arranged neatly thereon, and realized that he felt oddly blank- what was he /supposed/ to feel or show when something he had no interest in was directly in front of him and X was looking at him with those expectant eyes, the ones that were just daring him to say something so he could whack him with that nearby dictionary- the old, torn one with the brittle pages that promised the death of a thousand paper cuts.

"It's a fictional story. A woman is looking for her daughter, and in doing so she meets a strange man who claims to be a dragon. He's searching for the one to be his master, and in the long search he had slowly started to assume the form of what he was watching- humans. In the end they both find what they're looking for; her daughter and each other."

"...What is it with you and stuff like this?"

"I happen to /like/ dragons, thank you."

"That's only because you are one."

"…You think so?" A smile. Something that he'd been missing out on lately, and it made his mood skyrocket enough that he forgave the cold library air, the annoying hum from the air conditioner, the scent of stale, rotting paper and even sent a wish of wellbeing to the graying biddy behind the counter that was probably asleep by now.

Of course he couldn't leave it like that.

"You've got the personality for it."

"Bite me Z." X didn't miss a beat.

"When and where?" Then again, neither did Zero.

X shifted his head to the side, hair bobbing with the motion and brought up a hand to pull at his coat collar. "Oh I don't know, why not now?"

_19) …Offers that are rarely given should be jumped at. Especially when they're from X._

The fact that it was sarcastic didn't matter. Zero only had eyes for that thin neck, and the slight hint of synthetic muscle that was accented by the way his collarbone stood out so clearly from behind the strap of the tank top he had on underneath. A clean neck- no marks. Had anyone else ever gotten close enough to mar it, mark it?

Something in the back of his mind hissed at that.

Zero brought a hand up and tilted his chin further out of the way with a little more force than he'd meant to, ignoring the squeak of surprise in favor of catching the hand that had still been caught in his collar. He caught X chancing a glance out of the corner of his eye and smirked e-v-i-l-l-y, sliding that light coat further off his shoulder.

It was funny, the way the sarcastic look had completely flown out the window. He eyed the nervous swallow- the way his throat bobbed slightly before leaning forward, his breath ghosting over the junction of his neck and shoulder, and didn't even miss a beat when X took a stop back, stepping in time with him to keep contact.

He could ignore the grunt that meant that X had hit something solid.

And he could ignore the sound of books toppling off the other side of the shelf, and he didn't bother to register the dull 'thunk' as they hit the ground. Instead, he fastened his maw around the curve of X's neck- not quite biting down yet.

He felt rather than heard the tremor, the low rumble at the back of his throat as he teasingly ran his tongue along it before he clamped his canines down on a muscle, ignoring the gasp and grabbing X's wrist tighter as he bumped the shelf again.

The sound of the shelf scraping as it moved and swayed ominously was something he couldn't ignore, though he pushed it to the back of his mind as he lapped at the little drops of pain he'd brought about. He couldn't really ignore that X had tried to pull out of his hold when he had loosened his grip and dragged him back again- the bookcase slid against another, the two scraping along the ground and scaring a child into shrieking- before stopping dead, bring his now free hand up to cover his mouth as he looked behind Zero, huddling slightly out of some instinct as if it would somehow protect him from the looming form of the middle-aged librarian.

Zero was slightly more eloquent. "Um, hi?"

--

A/N

…In my own defense, I felt bad for not updating in so long and needed to post something? And I have tests to study for, so um… yeah. /hides/

On a side note, this is only going to be 3 or 4 chapters. Can't decide… Not sure. Shouldn't be more than that though!


	3. Chapter 3

Sooo…

Imbri Wrote. And then scrapped. And then wrote and scrapped and then wrote!

…And then waited for a new plot bunny to hop in, rewrote the entire chapter and this is the outcome... a much shorter outcome that means I get to write more chapters... -author smacks herself with the keyboard-

Overlay: Chucked out of the library. Attempted murder by rock. (Okay not really) X is starting to wonder about his slightly insane friend. Zero is an opportunistic bastard. I think that sums it up?

Did I include a disclaimer last time? It's been so long... I don't own the characters! Probably not even the plot, as I'm sure it's been done before.

Chapter 3: Words of banter (are really adoration)

They were thrown rather unceremoniously (1) out of the building, the middle-aged librarian, who Zero probably should have become acquainted with if only to avoid this fate, screeching one last death threat before slamming the door shut. A lone car driving by honked at the two.

Or maybe that was the tangled heap they were in, one never knows…

Either way.

19) _Let it be known under the penalty of death that X does not like being a public spectacle. EVER._

X stared down at the blond from his vantage point on his stomach. Zero was both still reeling from the fall and personally enjoying the situation too much to try to force a change. Unfortunately for him, X wasn't sharing his wavelength.

"Zero. I have just been kicked out of a library. A /public/ library."

"Yes. I can see that. About time, I'd say."

"…That's BAD!" X emphasized it and sent a glare downward before he rolled off his friend and onto the nearby grass, noting that he had light tears from the tumble. In any other situation he could have given a sonet about the situation, and why it /was not a good one/, but something about the blond just unhinged him. Especially when he was upset as it was.

"Only in your mind X. Really, you haven't lived until you can say that you've been kicked out of most government institutions, and libraries count I'll have you know."

X stared at him for a moment, weighing his current blacklisted situation on an otherwise perfect legal record, (Whether or not it would actually show up was besides the point/he/ knew!) and came to the only rational solution he could, "Zero, I am sitting next to a pointy rock that I /will/ hit you with!" X grabbed said rock in his hand, shaking it back in forth in what he thought must have been a threatening manner.

It was far from the desired result. Zero fought the urge to laugh at X; There were /twigs/ stuck in his hair, which was more fluffed out than normal, and he was shaking a /rock/ of all things and threatening death with it. (Or something. He hadn't been listening at the time.) What sane person wouldn't find the situation funny?

…Okay, so a sane person would realize the danger and run. What slightly masochistic person wouldn't find it funny?!

He put up his hands in a pacifying gesture. "Okay! Okay! The next time I use you as a chew toy, I'll do it in the comfort of my room-"

"ZERO!" X Barked, hand making a jerking motion before he cut it off- Zero had the slightly insane notion that X was about to pelt him with a rock (At least he /hoped/ that he hadn't finally pushed X to bludgeoning)- before he took a calming breath. He was doing that a lot lately, and Zero privately wondered if all that restraint was really good for him. At the same time, he wasn't going to crack a joke about it right now, considering the whole bludgeoning thing.

At least X came to the conclusion that Zero didn't really want to talk about the subject just yet, and was able to calm himself with the promise of forcing answers out of the blond later.

He leaned over and pulled a random twig out of X's hair, grinning when X just blinked at the action, the rock dropping back to the ground as he debated whether he should tell Zero he was an idiot or ask him to pull the rest out. The internal debate would rage on until someone else made the decision for him, or they left and he had to do it himself anyway.

This led Zero to his next conclusion.

20) _X is, and always will be, cute. Even when the author wants to shake him like a bobble-head, which is probably entirely too often._

There it was. His strange, damning logic. Even the fact that X was still probably contemplating throwing something at him, and therefore going against his supposed pacifistic morals was appealing. It was just one of those facts of life that smacked him upside the head from time to time- X was cute and liked to occasionally break his pacifist beliefs by hitting Zero with nearby objects. The list went on. Because really, how many people could say that they had X seriously contemplating their death by a /rock/? None, other than him, and it was the little things like that that made him feel special.

"Zero. Calmly. Tell me before I do... something to you. What has been going on lately?" It was probably bad that he had grinned at the threat, instead of acting even remotely scared or remorseful like any sane creature would.

"Absolutely nothing X. I think that your paranoia is really starting to spread to new lengths if you're starting to suspect me of all people-"

X frowned at him. Though more specifically, it was Zero and his usual antics that made X question his sanity and set off little warning flags in his mind; the situation and the fact that he was letting the matter go for now, though filing it away for future reference and questioning; and the fact that he still had grass stains on his jeans and a torn up library card in his pocket. He wouldn't doubt that they'd put up a picture of him along with a 'no entry' notice. He'd been officially banned from a /library/ for life.

Circumstances as they were, he could probably believe that Zero had been bored and wanted to try and get X to entertain him. Circumstances as they were, he could almost believe that Zero was just being his usual self, and that the lack of anything challenging to kill, or at least maim in a month was really starting to make him loopy.

Circumstances as they were, he halfway didn't think that was all there was to it.

Zero was being weird. He had been banned from a government institution. And most importantly, he didn't have his book! Luckily X was an adult and could handle stressful situations with dignity and grace.

"I want to go home." It was a whine. And not from Zero.

"Then let's go home." Zero proclaimed grandly, grabbing X's arm and dragging him to his feet before he could whine anymore. "The bikes are... that way? Yes, that way!" Normally, Zero wouldn't have noticed that he was having to pull X along to get him to move, but this was an extreme case. He looked back in slight annoyance that his plot to escape the evil clutches of the library was being delayed. "I thought you wanted to go home?" Of course home to Zero meant the base, as well as his apartment, but that was beyond the point.

"...Maybe we should go by a bookstore first." X suggested, shuffling his feet at the look of dread that Zero quickly tried to cover up. "Just to see if they can order that for me, I doubt that anyone would have something that /old/ in-"

"That dragon book?"

"Yes."

"With the old, moldy cover?"

"...It wasn't /mold/ Zero. It was probably a stain from someone who should really know that old books and food don't mix-"

"And a crease on the back?"

X blinked. That was really more than he'd paid attention to, and certainly hadn't thought Zero of all people would notice. "I suppose? Why, do you know a place-" He spluttered and tried to throw his hands up as the moldy, old, and creased book was bumped against his forehead.

He almost gave an out of character squeal, until the reality of the situation came crashing down. Neither one of them had cards anymore (Not that Zero ever had one in the first place) and would never be eligible for them in the future. So, "Zero, you didn't check this out! I didn't check this out! That's stealing!!"

"No it isn't. I forgot I was hanging onto it when they threw me out. We can't go back in and return it without an old lady with a cane trying to kill us. So we're better off just leaving and sending someone from my unit to return it when you're done with it." The logic behind that statement took X by enough surprise that Zero was able to drag him the rest of the way to the bikes.

Victory! Freedom!

21) _Let it be known that X is one of /those/ people. The ones with too many morals. It tends to get in the way of a lot of plans._

"Still-"

God damnit! X and his conscience worrying over something that was already settled!

"How long is a usual borrowing period?" Zero tried to stay calm. Stay collected. Not start the motor yet, because that would make it seem like he wasn't really listening to X, and probably switch X from contrite and worried to annoyed in about two seconds, past experience in mind.

"About a month."

"late fees?"

"I think fifty cents a day-"

"Fine. I'll pay the fee for every day you have the book. Do you want me to multiply it by some number so you can feel better about yourself? Donate some obscure amount to a /library/ of all places? It would have been easier to google a site that sold the thing, now that I think about it-"

Zero was at the end of his rope, and that last part was almost a growl, but something unexpected happened.

X laughed and hugged the book protectively, probably making the crease worse. "No, the normal fee will be fine." Teasing smile. Very teasing smile. Zero had noted in the past that that was an unfair tactic on X's part, but he probably should write it down for future generations.

Zero resorted to what he did best in these situations. Banter. Lots of banter and picking on X. "You're /sure/? You don't want me to help them build a second /wing/ or just find an ancient, even /more/ moldy copy on some website that'll probably take a month to ship out?"

"No. My book." X looked horrified at the very thought of parting with it now. In fact, he tried to edge around Zero and make a break for it before the blond grabbed him and spun him around in the air.

--

The fact that Zero didn't think he'd see X for at least two days hadn't deterred him at the time. It was one of those facts of life he'd been thinking about lately; X had some light reading to occupy his free time, and what made the situation worse was that he knew that Zero knew he knew this.

It was almost /expected/ for him to be completely absent from all aspects of daily life while that thing was around. X would have been shocked if Zero had tried to interfere with his ritual.

That didn't change the fact that when X popped up during an off period, three days after getting his moldy book, he looked slightly guilty as he handed it over for some poor Hunter to go return. And that was one of the reasons that Zero hadn't tried to interfere.

Zero liked guilt. He could use guilt to get X to agree to things he would usually think twice about and then tell Zero to get his head checked. In fact, it was a great note to make,

22) _X's morals are also a double edged sword that can turn on him at any moment._

Of course, it depended on how you used it to your advantage.

"Good read?" He asked pleasantly, turning the thing over in his hands. He'd need to get someone to actually return it. If he didn't, it would be his luck that X would end up checking electronically that it was back in the system just to ease his mind. Then where would he be? Trying to explain that it had probably been taken to the wrong library and didn't he have /any/ faith in him at /all/, which would get him absolutely nowhere.

"Yes. I liked it quite a bit." Guilt guilt guilt. If he had one of those abilities that you saw in those shoujo mangas where you could see auras, X's would be: guilt! "What have you been up to?"

Zero waved an arm in a disarming way, "Oh, this and that. I was thinking about going into town. Maybe renting a movie."

Tactic: change the subject quickly and make him wonder. X chewed his cheek for second while he debated the merits of going into the unknown with Zero of all people. There was the underlying fact that he should really know better that was nagging at the back of his mind, trying to calm him into a sense of sanity.

"But if you want to stay here I guess I can try and catch you when you're not busy for a change-"

Wince.

"I was just thinking of going downtown to browse, after all. You've probably got a few other, more /important/ things to do-"

"Um, no! That sounds... good. I think." The way his head tilted at that last part, Zero was /sure/ it was his sense of self preservation trying to convince him to get more than a vague answer.

Self preservation had taken a back seat. Zero grinned and clapped a hand on his shoulder, inwardly doing a little victory dance while trying to keep it from showing in his movements or voice. "Three o'clock sound good? I thought it would!"

X blinked at the fact that he hadn't even had a chance to open his mouth to respond. Sanity had started to shriek in the background before it gave up and packed its bags for a short vacation.

---

A/N:

1) This is like, my favorite word of all time for some reason. I don't know why.

On another note, re-reading past chapters shows that I also tend to use 'but still' a lot. A lot a lot. Hm...

Next chappy- For some reason, I went away from Zero dragging X all over town to X dragging Zero to a grocery store. Will X let Zero try to cook something at his house? Will Zero blow up any of X's appliances? (Actually, I could work with that. P) Will the author finally get off her ass and throw in some action?! I'm working on the last part of ch.4, so let's see... scratch that, you'll at least get something small. I have to, to move the plot along.

-Zero walks up and smacks the author for several chapters of torment-


	4. Chapter 4

Imbri- …I have no legitimate excuse. Life happened, I guess. This is a total 180 from what I originally planned for this chappy. Anywho, feel free to read on, I'll try and start writing again soon. On a side note there are a ton of theories on reploids and how human they are, and I'm not going to align with any one- for this fic they can heal through nanites or something close to it. I'll try to work that out more later.

Imbri still does not own Rockman or any of its related games.

Chapter 4: Words of comfort (mean the world)

If it wasn't a book on X, he'd have thrown in a, 'oh yeah, and remember that the universe hates me.'

Obviously things had been going much, much too smoothly. A quick getaway to the city after a few hours of work again? No way, said karma. That'd be too convenient Zero. And if he thought about it, it had been a while since they'd seen any active duty- the smaller squabbles were usually shot down before what Zero lovingly dubbed 'the Suicide Mission Go-ers' could be called in.

That didn't mean they couldn't be taken by surprise. This was a sad state of affairs, and usually meant that /someone wasn't doing their job/ back home, and there was most likely a Maverick on base doing a happy jig- it didn't help that Zero and X were both high up on Sigma's wish list. X might despise his job on the bad days, but he wasn't going to let that affect Unit 17's performance. Field training fell into that requirement, and if they knew what was good for them they'd follow procedure.

If all the training and preparation for the job took place indoors, Hunter HQ would have been blown up and rebuilt several times over by now. There were smaller training facilities throughout the country (world!) and target and shooting ranges in their nearby area. Old buildings that were no longer in use and older districts that needed to be torn down and remodeled were sometimes donated or bought. Personally those were Zero's least favorite places, because oftentimes the higher ups found it funny to include shoot-me-nots in the simulations and would cut points for taking out granny or the pig-tailed child. X enjoyed the real-life what ifs of the latter and used them often.

X had two Hunter assigned to Communications and recon on each outing, and they had the go ahead with no Maverick activity reported within the nearby area. Drills had been going as smoothly as he could have hoped, with no injuries worse than scrapes and scratches from jumping around avoiding friendly fire. There had been no telltale wave of destruction. If a pin had dropped within fifty feet of him X would have investigated it and probably blown it into a large crater in the ground just to be safe. When the random encounter showed up X took control of the situation in under five seconds and managed to avoid serious injuries to anyone under his wing.

Zero knew X- none of that meant a damn thing in the long run.

_23: X goes through too many games of break the cutie. And after he snaps and kills off everything in the area, he's most likely to check on his unit for casualties and then go reflect on How This is His Fault._

"Hey," He rapped his knuckles on the door; it wasn't always a good idea to surprise a Hunter who was injured and just out of battle, and stared at X with a slight frown. His helmet was off, and he was in the process of tearing a string of tape off his injured arm with his teeth. He didn't bother looking up or otherwise recognizing Zero's presence.

"Shouldn't you be in the medical wing letting Lifesaver patch that up?" This finally caught X's attention, though he didn't stop in his self-treatment.

"I stopped there first to check on the others; I can handle this on my own." Still not looking up, still not openly inviting conversation or company.

"...right." Zero had crossed the distance in a couple of long strides and batted X's hand away from his arm, shaking his head at the poor patch job. At least his first-aid kit was in better condition than Zero's, it looked like X actually re-stocked it on a normal basis.

"That plate isn't sitting right." Zero muttered, destroying what probably took X ten minutes to do with his one arm in three seconds. X let out a whine when Zero pulled off the metallic plate X had more or less just glued over the hole and tried to pull away.

"Damnit Zero, I just fixed that!"

"You did a craptastic job of it too. Now sit or I'll drag you to Lifesaver, or one of his nonsentient look-alikes." Aka the Lifesaver monkies.

X puffed at him but otherwise handed over his arm without further comment. He winced every now and then, or wriggled unhappily from Zero's more unsympathetic hand, but didn't put up a fight in the long run.

"They're probably done by now." Zero finally said, looking at his wrap-job with a slight sense of accomplishment. It needed to be looked at by a professional, but if X really didn't get Lifesaver to look at it his self-repair would handle over time. He didn't know how long it'd take for his cute little mesh-skin to patch itself up, but that wasn't the problem, much as he liked to focus on it. The problem was there were the little cuts here and there, and Zero really didn't have the patience for this kind of work.

X let out a non-committal sound and started digging around for some smaller bandages, and Zero felt his patience stretch.

"If you don't fix these right and you start to develop a flesh eating rust that kills you, Signas will be pissed off at me for not dragging you in."

"Uh huh." X scowled at his first-aid kit, obviously it had failed him once again and he was going to have to dig around his room for something to make due.

"X."

Said hunter continued to avoid eye contact, and Zero had a decision to make. He could force the X to look at the elephant in the corner and deal with the bomb afterwards, or he could throw X over his shoulder and drag him to see a Lifesaver monkey.

"X?"

"Um… I need- tape. Th-the tape Zero." In the presence of the *wibble* option two became almost impossible.

Zero sighed, grabbed X's still rummaging hands and turned them over, running a thumb along a scratch that was already fading, and waved them back and forth in a teasing way. This was not his area. He could deal with anger, death threats and gore. Normal Emotions fell into that dark area he had trouble navigating.

"Your unit's fine. They don't blame you for this. Signas is not angry at you for going mama bear under fire and the world is still spinning. Calm down."

_24: The best way to knock X out of a fit of angst or bout of self-loathing is to completely derail him._

X's gob smacked expression at least meant he was making eye contact. If Zero had really listened, he could probably have heard the gears in X's head stop in shock before firing violently again.

"Mama… bear?" He demanded, edges of his mouth curled down in a cross between upset and disbelief, eyebrows knitted together. "What the hell Zero-"

"Well Alia told me you went from 'let's have a productive family outing to 'you're shooting at my kids, prepare to die' in about three seconds. So yeah, mama bear." X's palm smacked into his forehead and he let out a soft groan.

"You are to never speak of this again." But it had a slight teasing lilt to it.

"Like the rest of the base doesn't know. Then again, maybe they don't. Half the time I think the only people who know that you're a walking nuke are the Mavs and me." Zero shrugged it off before X could try and find something to say to that, "And your pups want to make sure /you're/ okay. So hurry up and escort me to the medical wing before they start breaking the door down, I don't think Signas would find the extra problem funny at all at the moment."

X let out a snort of possible annoyance, probable amusement, and actually let Zero pull him up and out the door this time, half open first-aid kit and messy room losing their hold on the forefront of his mind against the feeling of Zero's warm palm and the continued teasing banter that was only meant as an attempt to cheer him up.

…Only.


End file.
